托福口语 Task 3

In psychology, the concept of 'functional fixedness' refers to a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used. This mental block prevents individuals from seeing novel or alternative uses for familiar objects, thereby hindering problem-solving and creativity. Functional fixedness often arises because people become overly familiar with an object's standard function, making it difficult to reimagine its potential in new contexts.

Professor: To illustrate this, consider an experiment I ran with my students. I gave each participant a candle, a box of thumbtacks, and a book of matches, and asked them to attach the candle to the wall so it could burn without dripping wax on the floor. Most participants struggled because they tried to tack the candle directly or melt wax to stick it. They saw the box only as a container for thumbtacks, not as a potential platform. However, one student finally emptied the box, tacked it to the wall, and placed the candle inside. That student overcame functional fixedness by recognizing the box could serve as a shelf. The others were stuck because they couldn't think beyond the box's typical role.